Brief History of the 504^th PIR

May 1, 1942-                     504^th PIR activated at Fort Benning, Georgia

August 15, 1942-                504^th PIR assigned to the 82^nd Airborne Division

April 29, 1943-                   504^th PIR embarked for ETO on the troopship GEORGE
                                        WASHINGTON

May 10, 1943-                    504^th PIR landed at Casablanca, North Africa. Moved
                                         inland via train to base camp at Oujda, Algeria.

July 9, 1943-                     3^rd Battalion attached to 505^th PIR for first wave of
                                        assault on Sicily, Operation HUSKY I.

July 10, 1943-                  Regiment alerted for drop in Sicily as part of Operation
                                        HUSKY II.  Regiment was mobilized, outfitted and
                                        prepped in under ten hours. First and Second
                                        Battalions constituted the second wave of the
                                        airborne assault. 23 planes of the 504 flight shot
                                        down by Allied naval gunners who believed these
                                        flights were German bombers.  Drop zone for surviving
                                        aircraft was Gela, Sicily.  Following operations,
                                        Regiment returned to Tunisia.

September 14, 1943-         504^th PIR dropped at Paestrum, Italy in support of 5^th
                                                Army invasion of Italian mainland at about 1:30AM. 
                                      Operation AVALANCE. (Elements of 3/504 landed in
                                      amphibious assault at Salerno on 11 September).

September-

  December, 1943-             504 RCT fought in mountains of Italy as regular ground
                                        troops.

October 1, 1943-               504^th PIR entered Naples.

January 22, 1944-              504 RCT made amphibious landing at Anzio from LCI’s.

January-

   March 25, 1944-             504 RCT committed as regular ground troops on Anzio
                                        beachhead.

April 10, 1944-                   504^th PIR embarked for England on the CAPETOWN
                                        CASTLE to rejoin the rest of the 82^nd Airborne which
                                        had been pulled out of Italy to train for Operation
                                        OVERLORD.

April 22, 1944-                   504^th PIR arrived in Liverpool, England and moved by
                                        train to base camp in Leicester.

Early May, 1944-                Due to shortage of aircraft and the necessity to train
                                        the large number of replacements for losses in Italy,
                                        504 RCT is not committed to Operation OVERLORD and
                                        assigned as strategic reserve.  26 men are selected
                                        to act as security detachments for 507^th and 508^th
                                                  PIR Pathfinder teams.

September 17, 1944-         1^st Allied Airborne Army Operation MARKET-GARDEN,
                                        Holland.  504 drop zone was at Overasselt.  1^st
                                                  Battalion captured bridge #7. Germans destroyed
                                        bridge #8.  2^nd Battalion captured bridge over the
                                        Maas near Grave intact.  504’s missions accomplished
                                        within four hours after landing.

September 20, 1944-         504 PIR alerted for amphibious crossing of the Waal
                                        River to capture the two vital Nijmegen bridges. 
                                        3/504 made the initial assault supported by 1/504 and
                                        regimental headquarters.  Both the railroad and
                                        highway bridges captured intact.

November 13, 1944-           Regiment relieved on the line by Canadian 8^th Brigade. 
                                        Removed to new base camp at Sissone, France.

December 20, 1944-           In response to the German offensive in the Ardennes,
                                        504^th PIR moved to Werbomont, Belgium.  1/504
                                        proceeded from Werbomont to Cheneux.  There they
                                        destroyed a battalion of the 1^st SS Panzer Grenadier
                                        Regiment.

April 6, 1945-                    “A” Company ordered to cross the Rhine River to attack
                                        and occupy Hitdorf, Germany.  Landing effected at
                                        0230.  Engaged enemy force estimated at regimental
                                        strength.

May 3, 1945-                     “I” Company patrol met Russian troops in town of
                                         Eldenburg, Germany.

May 8, 1945-                     Germany surrendered.

May 9, 1945-                     V-E Day.

504th PIR Firsts

-More combat days than any other airborne regiment in the Allied armies (over 325).

-First Allied troops to enter Sicily, July 9, 1943.

-First parachute troops to jump in Italy.

-First Allied troops to enter Naples.

-First Allied troops through the German mountain strongholds north of Venafro.

-First to win a Presidential Unit Citation on the Anzio beachhead.

-First to jump in the airborne invasion of Holland, followed by the capture of the
    longest span bridge in Europe.

-First to make an assault crossing of the Rhine River (504^th men crossed the Waal   
    the Lower Rhine—at Nijmegen, Holland, in September 1944.

-First to stop von Rundtstedt’s forces in the Battle of the Bulge.

-First through the Siegfried Line in the Allies’ spring offensive.